# My way of installing oust fans in my humidor



## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

I cut apart a box that I had lying around, used a 1 and 3/4" hole saw to pop two holes. You can also see the space that was made to allow me to fit the screens over it. I have since rewired it so that one fan moves opposite the other.

And the obligatory shot of the humi.:ss


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## AD720 (Jan 14, 2008)

Nicely done. :tu


Damn I wish I was handy!


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## replicant_argent (May 13, 2006)

I'm not familiar with this oust fan option, the one I have is the one with the D battery, a circuit board, and bulky as heck. Is the board built into those motor housings?

Very nice looking, btw. I will keep that design in mind when I move to a Fridge type arrangement. Just thought that it might be an interesting option to be able to out bead sacks in the box as well, keeping humidification right next to the air current, and neat and tidy.

You reversed one fans leads to allow it to operate in the opposite direction, but did you reverse the fan blade itself?


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## JCK (Nov 9, 2006)

very cool setup!


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## Seanohue (Oct 2, 2006)

replicant_argent said:


> I'm not familiar with this oust fan option, the one I have is the one with the D battery, a circuit board, and bulky as heck. Is the board built into those motor housings?
> 
> Very nice looking, btw. I will keep that design in mind when I move to a Fridge type arrangement.


:tpd: what did that look like before you took it apart? I've never seen the model and it would surely save space to do it that way.


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## JCK (Nov 9, 2006)

that setup looks like it would run constantly until the batteries are drained. I don't see any circuitry that would trigger the cycling.


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## replicant_argent (May 13, 2006)

ah....

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1438047&postcount=1


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## DBall (Jun 4, 2007)

damn nifty!


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## Dgar (Sep 12, 2006)

Very cool... one of a kind, I like it :tu


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## dunng (Jul 14, 2006)

Very cool idea! Where's the beads? :ss


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## ljh824 (Oct 14, 2007)

Great idea. You've inspired me to try something similar. I'll post pics when I'm done.


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

replicant_argent said:


> I'm not familiar with this oust fan option, the one I have is the one with the D battery, a circuit board, and bulky as heck. Is the board built into those motor housings?
> 
> Very nice looking, btw. I will keep that design in mind when I move to a Fridge type arrangement.


You are gonna be glad I got a digital camera for X-mas.









Thats what the ugly little SOB looks like when you buy them for seven dollars in the store. It's massive, if I layed it on its back it would not fit in a "standard" size box. (The Montecristo Afrique Jambo box.) So what does any person who grew up playing with Lego's do? Take it apart and put it together in a new and exciting way.









I started by removing the battery cover and the battery. Then there are two small philips-head screws on the back that had to come out. Then to remove the front of the case from the back of the case you have to kind of pinch the fan housing and have it come apart as they use a snap type casing. And thats when you get.....









Thats what the "guts" look like. You can see the fan with the motor attached to it, the circuit board, and the battery holder (I installed the battery for the pic.) All of these guts slide out. You can re-arrange them in a myriad of ways, I'm sure...but one thing to keep in mind. IT'S VERY VERY VERY FRAGILE. I found out the hard way, and it's how I have pix of each individual component. :r

One thing that I didn't like about the the way that its set up is the the D-cell battery is attached to the board, not leaving me many options. So thats when i tried to attach the battery pack that you saw in the first picture. It was at that time that the fan moved about a 1/4 inch and then stopped. So I tried the second board. Same thing. Reattached the D-cell...low and behold... Destroyed the board. Probably just a resistor or a diode on it, but I don't feel like unsoldering all that tiny stuff.

Here are a few more pix, one of the back of the oust fan housing that has the switch cut-out:










One of the board front:










One of the board back with the switch off to the side:










Now you'll notice on the above picture, the metal "patches" that are right by the G and H keys on my keyboard. those are where the little clamps on the switch slide on. When the board is off...the one clamp touches only the large metal patch, and the other clamp just touches the board. When its on, the clamp again touches the big metal patch and the other then touches the smaller patch, finishing the circuit and applying power to the timer circuit and the fan.

Now as I said, I blew up my boards. They don't work anymore because I applied WAY too much voltage, 4x what is needed to run the fan. On top of that I tried running both fans off one board (this probably did more damage) and the draw through the board was HUGE. You'll see in the pic on the first post that I am using a 4 AA battery holder with a snap connector on it. Don't even think of using that if you want your boards to live. And only use ONE FAN PER BOARD. (Or if you feel like blowing stuff up in the name of finding a way to run two fans off one board, please do and show me how ). The only thing I can think to do right now that would still allow you to make the battery movable is to get one of these.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...032058.2032230.2032264&pg=2&parentPage=family

and then use wire so that you can mount the battery wherever, instead of having to use it in the fixed position on the board. And this will apply the 1.5 volts and plenty of amperage to the board that will allow it to use the timers. REMEMBER ONLY 1.5 VOLTS! NOT 6! (like I tried to do)


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

khubli said:


> that setup looks like it would run constantly until the batteries are drained. I don't see any circuitry that would trigger the cycling.


Yeah...i blew that up, I'm going to go to radio shack later in the week to figure out what to do.


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## tchariya (Feb 26, 2007)

hmmm wow that is cool...now if I can get computer fans integrated to the oust circuit board/battery setup...man now we would have something unique too!


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## awsmith4 (Jun 5, 2007)

Nice work:tu


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## Tour De Cigar (Feb 26, 2007)

cool thx for sharing :tu


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

tchariya said:


> hmmm wow that is cool...now if I can get computer fans integrated to the oust circuit board/battery setup...man now we would have something unique too!


 I will be working on that in the next two days. I have an old trinidad belicoso box that is just begging to have some holes popped in it so that I can make another one of these, more compact, with a better spot to hold beads. My biggest issue is building a timer circuit that can handle a little more juice.

And thanks for all the kind words guys and gals!


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## compuag (Dec 16, 2007)

Shaun Raney said:


> I will be working on that in the next two days. I have an old trinidad belicoso box that is just begging to have some holes popped in it so that I can make another one of these, more compact, with a better spot to hold beads. My biggest issue is building a timer circuit that can handle a little more juice.
> 
> And thanks for all the kind words guys and gals!


You might have the next $1M idea! A box of beads with integrated fans. Sounds too simple, but all the really great ideas are!!:tu


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## LasciviousXXX (Oct 12, 2004)

That's a really wicked setup you've got there bro. Thanks for sharing man, it def gives me some ideas for things I can do in my little cabinet humi


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## DBall (Jun 4, 2007)

compuag said:


> You might have the next $1M idea! A box of beads with integrated fans. Sounds too simple, but all the really great ideas are!!:tu


No kidding... if you ever do end up making one of these to sell, let me know. I'd genuinely be interested (assuming I don't try to make one first....... )


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

DBall said:


> No kidding... if you ever do end up making one of these to sell, let me know. I'd genuinely be interested (assuming I don't try to make one first....... )


Well I'd feel bad selling the one that I made because IMO it looks horrible, but I guess such is the case with building a "prototype", if you could call 3 wires 2 fans and a battery pack that. I'm going to Radio Shack today to build something more professional looking.


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## DBall (Jun 4, 2007)

Shaun Raney said:


> Well I'd feel bad selling the one that I made because IMO it looks horrible, but I guess such is the case with building a "prototype", if you could call 3 wires 2 fans and a battery pack that. I'm going to Radio Shack today to build something more professional looking.


Would it be possible/useful to build one with computer fans? One facing in, one out, or would that be overkill?

Edit: I just read about 5 posts up... hahaha. Doh!

Would it be so bad a thing if it didn't have a timer?


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## compuag (Dec 16, 2007)

DBall said:


> Would it be possible/useful to build one with computer fans? One facing in, one out, or would that be overkill?
> 
> Edit: I just read about 5 posts up... hahaha. Doh!
> 
> Would it be so bad a thing if it didn't have a timer?


If you couldn't make the timer work, an external toggle switch might be an idea?


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

Yeah, I found a website that makes dc brushless fans that are an assortment of sizes, I can do toggle switches, I can also do USB powered (single fan) and AC Powered. The biggest problem in my eyes is the batteries. It's another maintenance item, and I HATE maintenance. The timer would allow for the batteries to last longer, and thats the main thing I'm looking for. Of course, A/C would negate that totally, but having your humi plugged in all the time or running wires through it isn't always something that people want to do.


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## tchariya (Feb 26, 2007)

Shaun Raney said:


> Yeah, I found a website that makes dc brushless fans that are an assortment of sizes, I can do toggle switches, I can also do USB powered (single fan) and AC Powered. The biggest problem in my eyes is the batteries. It's another maintenance item, and I HATE maintenance. The timer would allow for the batteries to last longer, and thats the main thing I'm looking for. Of course, A/C would negate that totally, but having your humi plugged in all the time or running wires through it isn't always something that people want to do.


I think another Gorilla 'smokeyscotch' whipped up a similar device with computer fans. He powered his contraption with a step down transformer from Rat Shack and then plugged it into wall electrical timer that was set to turn on/off for like 10-15 minute increments 4x a day.


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## tchariya (Feb 26, 2007)

DBall said:


> Would it be possible/useful to build one with computer fans? One facing in, one out, or would that be overkill?
> 
> Edit: I just read about 5 posts up... hahaha. Doh!
> 
> Would it be so bad a thing if it didn't have a timer?


No need to do two fans, if you cut out slots on the bottom of your box to allow air to flow through like this gorilla did.


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## tchariya (Feb 26, 2007)

Shaun Raney said:


> Yeah, I found a website that makes dc brushless fans that are an assortment of sizes, I can do toggle switches, I can also do USB powered (single fan) and AC Powered. The biggest problem in my eyes is the batteries. It's another maintenance item, and I HATE maintenance. The timer would allow for the batteries to last longer, and thats the main thing I'm looking for. Of course, A/C would negate that totally, but having your humi plugged in all the time or running wires through it isn't always something that people want to do.


and sometimes after time, batteries can corrode and leak.....i'm not sure I want to be smoking any sticks laced with battery acid. I'm sure it would produce some hallucinogenic effects worth talking about, but hmmm not today.


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## Bubba -NJ (Dec 6, 2005)

Nice idea . I used to have a PC fan running in my coolidor , only problem was keeping it near a receptacle for electric . Was hooked up to a light timer and ran every hour or so , worked fine . I now have 2 Oust fans running as it is much easier to keep the coolidor in one spot and out of site . Nice thread . Maybe we need a new forum here on CS , one for home made inventions and creations . We could call it the "MacGyver Forum" .


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

Ok, got some time today to mock one of these up.

Imagine if you could a box that is taller than it is wide with a hinged top. Trinidad Bellicosos come in this style box. I am going to poke a hole in the front AND back, cover with mesh screens and I'm going to put the guts to the oust fan inside with a different battery holder. Whoever is interested in purchasing this please respond to this thread. It would cost about 15-20 dollars between the fan, the new battery holder, and assorted stuff to build it.

I am hoping that someone that would give a review and help me to develop this further would be the first reviewer/purchaser. This is probably best for someone with a Vinotemp or a Cabinet humidor that is worried about the astetics of their collection. Depending on which box I pick up tonight, I'm going to guess that about a half pound of beads could be stored in the box with the fan.

And one final note: The B&M that is selling the empty boxes sells them for $2 a box and all of the boxes are empties from the store itself so instead of pocketing that money they donate it to my local SPCA. So 2.00 of every box that I (hope to eventually) sell will go towards rescuing animals at a no kill shelter.


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

Thats the new box, it's for sale in the WTS area. HERE: http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=136914


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## JE3146 (Jan 15, 2008)

Shaun.. I ran through a few schematics last night. I may be able to assemble a timer circuit with battery pack holder and PC fan for under 10$. I'll keep you posted. I plan on tinkering with it over the weekend.

Just hope Radio Shack has some LM555 IC's to play with...


If I can get it working, I'll post a schematic and shopping/price list for those of you with a soldering iron at home


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## Shaun Raney (Feb 1, 2008)

That'd be sweet!


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## No1der (Apr 2, 2007)

If you really want to use the circuit board that comes with the oust to controll more than the fan that it comes with; What I would do is to connect the circuit board to a relay switch with a secondary, or rerouted, power source. This way you're not pushing too much current through that oust circutry.

Just a thought but I thought I'd share. 

BTW, I really like what you've done there and it's very creative. Thanks for giving me some ideas.

Cheers,
Rob


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## JE3146 (Jan 15, 2008)

No1der said:


> If you really want to use the circuit board that comes with the oust to controll more than the fan that it comes with; What I would do is to connect the circuit board to a relay switch with a secondary, or rerouted, power source. This way you're not pushing too much current through that oust circutry.
> 
> Just a thought but I thought I'd share.
> 
> ...


You could use a resistor to control the current output and just have it trigger a simple NPN transistor to drop voltage from the collector to the emitter... Simple as pie, but it puts you back to square one requiring the oust circuitry.


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